BIG Topics: August 24, 2018

Focus: How do we generate authentic topics for our college essays?

1. Warming up with the Big Question Blog (links are also on class website)

List of possibilities

Mike's Sample Blog

Mara's Sample Blog

• Please make sure give yourself a unique blog title that includes your first name.

• Include your big question in the header.

2. Offering you an overview of your first independent literary essay: The College Essay

• Select one essay that you're writing for college acceptance (if you're not going to college or you don't have to write any essays, use one of the 500 prompts posted below).

• Do your best to abide by the word limit set by your college; if you're composing multiple essays, pick one of your longer ones to turn in.

• Include the name of the college, the exact prompt, and any other directions that your college included, such as a word limit.

• Conference with me at least once, either before the essay is due or after you've turned it in.

• Turn it in by September 20 by 3:00 pm (printed copy).

3. Generating ideas with a few stream-of-consciousness writing prompts:

• "Directions to Where I Live"

• Freewriting with 500 New York Times personal writing prompts

• Highlight two or three moments that you remember well enough to describe using at least three of your senses.

• Look for any patterns and/or shifts.

• Click HERE for the 2018-19 Common App Essay Prompts

4. Using a sample essay to talk about the balance of slowing down moments and reflecting on the larger meaning

HW:
1. Continue freewriting (or drafting) in preparation for your college essay.

2. For Monday: Reread the first half of Oedipus Rex. 

3. For Wednesday: Reread the second half of Oedipus and create a Socratic ticket full of good, Socratic-style questions. 

4.For all of next week: Bring Oedipus Rex and How To Read Literature Like a Professor to class each day.